ZOEVA began with brushes, back in 2008 – a kitchen table start-up, which kicked off with brushes that were initially sold via eBay (good old eBay!), and is now found all over Europe.

The brand has the most touching and really rather heart-breaking roots, as founders Zoe Boikou and her sister Barbara – who were born in Greece, then moved to Germany – recall. Their mother suffered and fought domestic violence, and Zoe say: ‘I can still clearly remember a moment when I was seven years old. Despite the tears in her eyes, my mother had a determined look on her face. She took her makeup from the dressing table and with each brush stroke her posture became more upright.’

We’ve always understood the role that make-up can play in empowering women, but ZOEVA’s is one of the most vivid examples that we’ve yeard. Bottom line, though, is nobody buys a product just for its back-story – or rather, they won’t buy it twice. And ZOEVA’s make-up creations, from the original brushes to colour cosmetics, have impressed us greatly.

What are we especially loving? These recently hopped into our make-up bag…

Pout Glaze High-Shine Hyaluronic Lip Gloss – pictured here the shade Stefanie, which is a berry pink, and honestly feels more like a nourishing oil than a sticky gloss, on the lips, with a formula that includes sweet almond oil, raspberry seed oil, hyaluronic acid and mango seed butter.

Velvet Love Blush Powder – cream blushers are all very well and gorgeoous, but we’re finding that with the cold weather, they can disappear fast. The answer: switch to a soft powder, like this – or layer it over your fave cream blush, to ‘set’ it. The shades for this are GORGEOUS, going on sheer and natural rather than ‘painted lady’. We’ve put the shades below, but pictured above you can see raspberry pink Bliss. (The safe, suits-all-skintones shade would be Peace, we reckon.)

T-Zone Blender Brush – we’re also very much enjoying this double-ended and rather clever accessory, designed for foundation, cream highligher and bronzer, shaped to a point that is great for accessing the cleft of the chin and the area around the nose. Like all of ZOEVA’s brushes, it’s vegan, with FSC-certified wood handles – and we encourage you to explore the whole brush line-up, including the sets. All very impressive.

Pout Glaze High-Shine Hyaluronic Lip Gloss/£19.50 – buy here

Velvet Love Blush Powder/£21 – buy here

T-Zone Blender Brush/£18.50 – buy here

Prize Draws